For this semester, I requested early morning shifts at my job at The Union Cafe. Some may call me a glutton for punishment-- those people are night owls, probably. And yeah, even as a morning person, college has kinda wrecked my sleep schedule and made getting up at 6am pretty grueling and dreadful. BUT, the thing is, once I push past those first three minutes of intense "UGGGGGHHHHH I DON'T WANT TO GET UP IT'S STILL NIGHT TIME, THIS SUCKS!!!!" I remember how much I genuinely love mornings. And that's why I requested to work early in the morning when possible this semester, because if I didn't HAVE to get up early, I know I wouldn't discipline myself to do so, and I'd miss out on so much.
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| Agh, I love it when the sky is this color in the morning! |
For example, today I woke up at 6am for my shift at 6:30. On my phone waiting for me was a campus wide text alert saying that we were operating on a 2 hour delay schedule because of the weather. Even when the rest of campus is delayed or canceled, The Union is still open normal hours, so I still have to work. I trudged through the ice and snow, bleary eyed, for work. Once there, I did all the usual things required of that shift: filled sanitizer buckets, made two pots of drip coffee, stocked breakfast pastries and the grab-and-go fridge, etc. etc. But aside from all the typical stuff, I also got to do some fun stuff! My manager, Donna, called all three of us who were working the morning shift out to the loading dock to look at the snow, and we all slid around on the ice, doing sub-par "figure skating" spins and sloshing around in the wet ice. Then Donna took all of our "orders" and made a whole batch of scrambled eggs and omelets on the griddle and let us eat breakfast on the clock. It was honestly really fun and memorable! If I hadn't had to force myself out of bed at 6am, I would have missed all of that.
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| Snowy mornings are so beautiful and serene. |
Morning shifts aren't always that exciting, or even exciting at all. But I've learned to really love them. Waking up that early in the morning on a campus college makes me feel like I'm the only person who exists in the world for a few minutes. Until I get to work of course, and then it's me, Donna, and one or two other kids who were also disciplined enough to get up at 6am. Working in the early morning also makes me realize that most of the people who are actually awake are people who are hard at work, like my manager and coworkers, or the truck drivers that deliver food to The Union, or the guy who comes and services the espresso machine, or the guy who fixes the dish washer. And this may sound super cheesy or overly sentimental, but I think there's something really beautiful and God-honoring about people hard at work in the still-dark hours of morning. Loving God is about serving others and sacrificing, and that's exactly what all of those people are doing when they put aside their desire for sleep to go out in the cold and dark, and sometimes inclement weather to make sure that people's needs are provided for.
If you work in the early morning, or even at night, you may be able to relate to some of what I'm saying. If you're a sleeper-inner, I do envy you a little bit sometimes, but for the most part, I think you might be missing out on something that's weirdly awesome. And maybe someday you should give working at 6am a try!
VaughnDL
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